Recipient control of source audio identifiers for digital communications

ABSTRACT

Enabling a recipient to control presentation of an audio identifier informing the recipient of an arrival of a digital communication from a sender in a communication session includes receiving a digital communication from a sender directed to a recipient. A sender-designated first audio identifier or sender-related information that identifies the sender to the recipient is accessed upon arrival of the digital communication. The first audio identifier or sender-related information is presented to the recipient contemporaneous with receipt of the digital communication. The recipient is able to specify, upon presentation of the first audio identifier or sender-related information, whether to enable subsequent presentation of the first audio identifier prior to or concurrent with receipt of a future digital communication from the sender.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 10/747,694, filed Dec. 30, 2003, and titled SOURCE AUDIOIDENTIFIERS FOR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS, which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/450,696, filed Mar. 3, 2003, andtitled BUDDY RING TONES FOR MOBILE DEVICES and to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 60/474,207, filed May 30, 2003, and titled SPOKENUSER IDENTIFIER.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This invention relates to communications systems which enableexchange of information between users through a call or throughtransmission of a digital communication.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Typical telephones generate an audible ringing tone to indicatean incoming call. Some telephones allow the recipient to tailor theringing tone to a given caller and thereby enable the recipient tobecome aware of both the incoming call and the identity of the callerwhen hearing the ringing tone.

[0004] Similarly, many computer systems used for the exchange of digitalcommunications (e.g., instant messages or e-mails) allow a recipient toselect that a message sound be played upon receipt of a digitalcommunication. The message sound may be played every time a digitalcommunication is received, irrespective of the identity of the sender.

[0005] Both the ringing tone and the message sound provide the benefitof informing the recipient of the incoming call or received digitalcommunication without requiring the recipient to look at a screen or adisplay.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0006]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for enabling theexchange of digital communications with source audio identifiers.

[0007]FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a process for enablingpresentation of a source audio identifier upon receipt of a digitalcommunication.

[0008]FIG. 3A is flow chart illustrating an operation of the process ofFIG. 2 for sending a query to a recipient of a digital communicationasking the recipient whether a source audio identifier accompanying thedigital communication should be authorized or rejected.

[0009]FIG. 3B is a user interface that may be presented to a user uponreceipt of a digital communication with an accompanying source audioidentifier.

[0010]FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a process for enablingpresentation of a source audio identifier upon receipt of a digitalcommunication after a communication session has already begun.

[0011]FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating another process for enablingpresentation of a source audio identifier upon receipt of a digitalcommunication.

[0012]FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an operation of the process ofFIG. 5 for sending a query to a recipient of a digital communicationasking the recipient whether a source audio identifier accompanying thedigital communication should be authorized or rejected.

[0013]FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a system for enablingexchange of digital communications with source audio identifiers over adirect connection between a sender computer system and a recipientcomputer system.

[0014]FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a process for enabling apresentation of a source audio identifier upon receipt of a digitalcommunication from a sender computer system over a direct connection.

[0015]FIG. 9 is block diagram illustrating a telephone system forenabling telephone calls with source audio identifiers.

[0016]FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a process for enabling apresentation of a source audio identifier as a ringing signal toindicate an incoming call from a caller.

[0017]FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating another process for enablinga presentation of a source audio identifier as a ringing signal toindicate an incoming call from a caller.

[0018]FIGS. 12-15 are block diagrams illustrating exemplary concatenatedaudio messages.

[0019]FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating a process for creating andenabling perception of a concatenated audio message that includesrecipient-specified sounds.

[0020]FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary concatenatedaudio message used to inform a user of the occurrence of an event.

[0021]FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a process for creating andenabling perception of a concatenated audio message upon detection ofthe occurrence of an event.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Callers or senders of digital communications may push sourceaudio identifiers to recipients in order to customize or personalizecommunication exchanges with the recipients. The caller or sender mayselect a source audio identifier, making source audio identifiersaccessible to a call recipient phone or recipient computer system. Thecall recipient phone or recipient computer system enables the recipientto authorize or reject the source audio identifier. If the recipientauthorizes the source audio identifier, the call recipient phone orrecipient computer system plays the source audio identifier each timethe caller calls the recipient or each time the sender sends a digitalcommunication to the recipient.

[0023] A source audio identifier typically is stored in a digital filecontaining audio data that is used to identify the sender or caller. Thesource audio identifier may be, for example, a data file encoded usingMPEG Layer III Audio (MP3) and may range from 120 kilobits in size to 2megabits in size. A typical source audio identifier, when converted toaudio (i.e., “played”), may produce 1-2 seconds of sound. For example, asource audio identifier may be the spoken version of a sender's useridentifier (e.g., a spoken version of the sender's instant messaginghandle, e-mail address, or screen name, in the voice of the sender). Thesource audio identifier also may be any arbitrary sound that the senderdesignates as indicative of the identity of the sender (e.g., a barnyardanimal sound, a sound from a popular television show, a sound effect,and a sound related to human biological functions or behaviors).

[0024] The source audio identifier performs two functions when played:(1) the source audio identifier informs the recipient of an incomingcall from the caller or, additionally or alternatively, informs therecipient of receipt of a digital communication from the sender; and (2)the source audio identifier indicates, to a recipient, the identity,category or characteristic of the source of the digital communication.Accordingly, the source audio identifier is a signaling mechanism and,therefore, is logically independent from the content of the call or thecontent of digital communications exchanged between the sender and therecipient.

[0025] The source audio identifier may be a single sound that identifiesthe sender or, alternatively, may be a combined audio message formedfrom multiple sounds that are, for example, concatenated or blendedtogether to identify not only the sender but also one or morecharacteristics of the sender or of the communication sent by thesender. The combined audio message may include one or more identitysounds and one or more characteristic sounds, or it may be exclusive ofeither. The identity sounds identify the individual sender while thecharacteristic sounds describe, qualify, or characterize the sender orthe communication sent by the sender. For example, an identity sound maybe a spoken screen name, the sound of a monkey specified by the sender,or a recipient-designated sound associated with a group or category ofcontacts or a contact characteristic to indicate the identity of thesender, and a characteristic sound may be a high-pitched alarm sound toindicate that the communication is designated by the sender as a highpriority communication. As more sounds are concatenated, the callrecipient may be provided with increasing levels of informationregarding the communication and its source.

[0026] More particularly, in one implementation, the concatenated audiomessage may include one or more recipient-specified sounds. For example,the recipient may specify a characteristic sound for that sender thatindicates that the sender is a member of the buddy list of therecipient, or of a particular buddy group within the buddy list. Whenreceiving a communication from that sender, the recipient may, forexample, hear a sound indicating that the sender is a member of therecipient's buddy list, followed by a different sound indicating a buddygroup for the sender, followed by an audio identifier specified by thesender. In this example, the recipient is made aware of both the senderidentity and of their relationship to the recipient on several levels.

[0027] Concatenated audio messages may be used in communications systemsthat do not support sender-specified sounds. In this implementation, thesounds in the concatenated audio messages may be specified by therecipient or may be more globally defined. The concatenated audiomessage still performs the functions of identifying that a communicationor call has been received, identifying the identity of the sender, and,if applicable, identifying characteristics of the sender or of thecommunication sent by the sender.

[0028] Concatenated audio messages may be used to audibly inform a userof communication-related events that are not related to receipt of acommunication or call. For example, concatenated audio messages may beused in an instant messaging context to audibly inform a user ofpresence state changes of a member of the buddy list of the user.

[0029] Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 for enabling the exchange ofdigital communications with source audio identifiers includes a sendercomputer system 110 that sends a digital communication to a digitalcommunication handling system (DCHS) 140 through a network 130. The DCHS140 identifies a source audio identifier associated with the sender tothe digital communication and enables a recipient computer system 120 toaccess the digital communication and the source audio identifier throughthe network 130. The recipient computer system 120 accesses or otherwisereceives the digital communication and the source audio identifier andenables a recipient to perceive the source audio identifier prior to orconcurrent to enabling the recipient to perceive the digitalcommunication.

[0030] A digital communication typically includes a digital file suchas, for example, an electronic mail (e-mail), an instant message (IM), avoicemail, having audio data, video data, general binary data, or textdata (e.g., encoded in American Standard Code for InformationInterchange (ASCII) format). A digital communication is associated witha sender user identifier and a recipient user identifier. The sender andrecipient user identifiers are data tags or labels used to identify thesender and the recipient, respectively, and may be, for example, e-mailaddresses, instant messaging handles, Internet Protocol addresses,screen names, and/or phone numbers.

[0031] The sender computer system 110 is configured to send a digitalcommunication to the DCHS 140 through the network 130. The sendercomputer system 110 typically includes a device 110A capable ofexecuting instructions under the command of a controller 110B. Thedevice 110A may be a general purpose computer such as a workstation orpersonal computer or may be a special purpose computer such as aportable digital assistant (PDA), a landline phone with digitalprocessing capabilities, or a mobile phone with digital processingcapabilities. The controller 124 may command and direct communicationsbetween the device 110A of the sender computer system 110 and the DCHS140. The controller 110B may be a digital communications interfaceapplication that enables transmission of digital communications to theDCHS 140 using a communications protocol. For example, in ane-mail-oriented implementation, the digital communications interfaceapplication may be an e-mail application and the communications protocolmay be, for example, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). The device110A may be connected to the controller 110B by a wired or wireless datapathway 110C capable of delivering data.

[0032] In another implementation, the sender computer system 110 isconfigured to send both a digital communication and a source audioidentifier to the DCHS 140. In this implementation, the DCHS 140 doesnot access and send a source audio identifier, but rather, relays thereceived source audio identifier and the received digital communicationto the recipient computer system 120. The source audio identifier alsomay be stored by the recipient computer system 120 rather than by theDCHS 140 or by the sender computer system 110.

[0033] In yet another implementation, the sender computer system 110 isadditionally configured to send to the DCHS 140 a user profilecorresponding to the sender (i.e., a sender profile). The DCHS 140, inturn, may enable access to all or portions of the sender profile to therecipient computer system 120. The sender profile may include senderidentity information and other information related to the sender suchas, for example, interests, hobbies, marital status, location,occupation, gender, a personal quote, and favorite gadgets. The senderidentity information may include any type of identifier (e.g., text orvideo) that may be used to identify the sender to the recipient. Forexample, the sender identity information may include a video imageassociated with the sender such as a picture of the sender.

[0034] The sender computer system 110 may send the source audioidentifier and/or the sender profile each time a digital communicationis sent to the recipient computer system 120 or, alternatively, may sendthe source audio identifier and/or the sender profile only at thebeginning of a communication session with the recipient computer system120. The following description is directed primarily to thecommunication and perception of the source audio identifier, butdescribed concepts and configurations may also apply to the otheraspects of a sender profile.

[0035] The recipient computer system 120 is configured to access andenable a recipient to perceive a digital communication and a sourceaudio identifier. The recipient computer system 120 receives orotherwise accesses the digital communication and the source audioidentifier from the DCHS 140 through the network 130. In anotherimplementation, the recipient computer system 120 also receives orotherwise accesses all or a portion of the sender profile from the DCHS140. The recipient computer system 120 typically includes a device 120Acapable of executing instructions under the command of a controller120B. The device 120A may be a general purpose computer such as aworkstation or personal computer or may be a special purpose computersuch as a portable digital assistant (PDA), a landline phone withdigital processing capabilities, or a mobile phone with digitalprocessing capabilities. The controller 124 may command and directcommunications between the device 120A of the recipient computer system120 and the DCHS 140. The controller 120B may be a digitalcommunications interface application that enables receipt of digitalcommunications from DCHS 140 using a communications protocol. In ane-mail-oriented implementation, the digital communications interfaceapplication may be an e-mail application and the communications protocolmay be, for example, Post Office Protocol (POP) or Internet MessageAccess Protocol (IMAP). The device 120A may be connected to thecontroller 120B by a wired or wireless data pathway 120C capable ofdelivering data.

[0036] The device 120A typically includes a data store that may be usedfor storing source audio identifiers and/or sender profiles associatedwith senders with whom a communication session is ongoing or with whom acommunication session has already taken place. The device 120A may storea source audio identifier and/or a sender profile at the beginning of acommunication session and access the stored source audio identifier asnecessary throughout the communication session in accordance with usercommunication exchange preferences. The device 120A also may include arepository of source audio identifiers and/or sender profiles fromprevious communication sessions. The user communication exchangepreferences also may be stored in the device 120A.

[0037] The network 130 is configured to enable direct or indirectcommunications between the sender computer system 110, the recipientcomputer system 120, and the DCHS 140. Examples of the network 130include the Internet, Wide Area Networks (WANs), Local Area Networks(LANs), analog or digital wired and wireless telephone networks (e.g.,Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), Integrated Services DigitalNetwork (ISDN), and Digital Subscriber Line (xDSL)), radio, television,cable, satellite, and/or any other delivery or tunneling mechanism forcarrying data.

[0038] The DCHS 140 includes a digital communication processor 142, anaudio identifier data store 144, and a configuration data store 146. Thedigital communication processor 142 is a computer system configured toreceive a digital communication from the sender computer system 110 anddetermine whether to discard the digital communication, deposit thedigital communication in a data store for subsequent retrieval by therecipient computer system 120, or send the digital communication to therecipient computer system 120. The digital communication processor 142may send the digital communication to the recipient computer system 120with or without an attached source audio identifier.

[0039] The digital communication processor 142 may access theconfiguration data store 146 to retrieve the sender profile and may sendthe sender profile (or aspects thereof) to the recipient computer system120 along with the digital communication. The digital communicationprocessor 142 also may access the configuration data store 146 toretrieve user communication exchange preferences associated with thepotential recipient of the digital communication.

[0040] The user communication exchange preferences include one or morelists of user identifiers that may be accessed by the digitalcommunication processor 142 when processing the digital communications.The lists may include a list of user identifiers from which digitalcommunications will not be authorized (i.e., a black list), a list ofuser identifiers from which digital communications will be authorizedbut associated source audio identifiers will not be authorized or playedto the recipient (i.e., a gray list), and/or a list of user identifiersfrom which digital communications will be authorized and associatedsource audio identifiers will be authorized and played (i.e., a whitelist). If the digital communication processor 142 receives a digitalcommunication and the user identifier of the sender of the digitalcommunication is included on the black list, the digital communicationis discarded and, in some implementations, an error or notificationmessage is sent to the sender computer system 110. If the digitalcommunication processor 142 receives a digital communication and theuser identifier of the sender is included on the gray list, the digitalcommunication is sent to the recipient computer system 120 without thecorresponding source audio identifier. If the digital communicationprocessor 142 receives a digital communication and the user identifierof the sender is included on the white list, the digital communicationand the corresponding source audio identifier are sent to the recipientcomputer system 120.

[0041] In one implementation, once a sender is included on the white,gray, or black lists of a recipient, the sender remains on the listsirrespective of changes in the sender's source audio identifier. Inanother implementation, the configuration data store 146 or the datastore in the recipient computer system 120 stores the source audioidentifiers of the senders included on the white, gray, or black lists.When the DCHS 140 or recipient computer system 120 receives a digitalcommunication including a source audio identifier, the DCHS 140 or therecipient computer system 120 determines whether the sender is on one ofthe lists and, if the sender is on one of the lists, verifies that theattached source audio identifier is the same as the stored source audioidentifier. If the attached source audio identifier is the same as thestored source audio identifier, the DCHS 140 or the recipient computersystem 120 may authorize or reject the source audio identifier inaccordance with the user communication exchange preferences. However, ifthe attached source audio identifier is different than the stored sourceaudio identifier, the recipient computer system 120 may request that theuser authorize or reject the new source audio identifier from thesender. The query may be presented in a user interface such as, forexample, the user interface 300 shown in FIG. 3B.

[0042] If the user identifier of the sender of the digital communicationis not included on the black, gray, or white lists, the digitalcommunication processor 142 processes the digital communication inaccordance with a default response algorithm that may be specified bythe recipient and stored as part of the user communication exchangepreferences of the recipient (i.e., stored in the configuration datastore 146 or, additionally or alternatively, stored in the device 120Aof the recipient computer system 120). For example, the recipient maychoose a default response algorithm that sends the source audioidentifier and the digital communication to the recipient computersystem 120 if the user identifier of the sender is not on any of thelists. The recipient computer system 120 may then enable the user toperceive both the digital communication and the source audio identifier.

[0043] In another example, the recipient may choose a default responsealgorithm that results in the digital communication processor 142sending a query to the recipient computer system 120 which prompts therecipient to authorize or reject the digital communication and/or thesource audio identifier. The recipient computer system 120 may receivethe query, which may include sender profile information accessed fromthe configuration data store 146, and may provide the recipient with allor a portion of this sender profile information when asking therecipient whether the recipient will authorize or reject the digitalcommunication and/or source audio identifier. The recipient also mayhave the option to place the sender user identifier on the black, gray,or white lists stored as part of the user communication preferences ofthe recipient. The digital communication processor 142 may receive aresponse to the query from the recipient computer system 120 and processthe digital communication accordingly. The query may, for example, bepresented to the user through a visual user interface such as the userinterface 300 shown in FIG. 3B.

[0044] The digital communication processor 142 typically accesses theuser communication exchange preferences including one or more of thewhite, gray, and black lists and the default response algorithm at thebeginning of a communication session between the sender and therecipient. Once the appropriate processing has been determined,subsequent digital communications sent by the sender computer system 110are processed by the digital communication processor 142 in accordancewith the already determined preferences. The digital communicationprocessor 142 may send the source audio identifier with each subsequentdigital communication from the sender; or, alternatively, the digitalcommunication processor 142 may send the source audio identifier withthe first digital communication sent at the start of the communicationsession. The recipient computer system 120 may then simply store thesource audio identifier after receipt of the first digital communicationand may access and play the stored source audio identifier for eachsubsequent digital communication received from the digital communicationprocessor 142 during that communication session.

[0045] The digital communication processor 142 also may becommunicatively coupled to a login system or an online presencedetection system that keeps track of the login status or online presenceof the user identifier corresponding to the recipient. For example, inan instant messaging context, the digital communication processor 142may communicate with the instant messaging login system to track useridentifiers that are logged in and able to receive and send instantmessages. In an e-mail context, the digital communication processor 142may communicate with an e-mail login system to track user identifiersthat are logged in and able to receive and send e-mail. If a recipientof a digital communication is not logged in or otherwise online, thedigital communication processor 142 may deposit the digitalcommunication in a data store corresponding to the recipient (e.g.,e-mails may be stored in the mailbox of the recipient) or may discardthe digital communication (e.g., instant messages are typicallydiscarded if the recipient is not online).

[0046] In another implementation, the digital communication processor142 does not access user communication exchange preferences for therecipient from the configuration data store 146 and does not access asource audio identifier from the audio identifier data store 144.Instead, the digital communication processor 142 receives the sourceaudio identifier from the sender computer system 110 with each digitalcommunication. The digital communication processor 142, in turn, sendsthe digital communication with the source audio identifier to therecipient computer system 120. The recipient computer system 120 locallyaccesses and applies the user communication exchange preferences uponreceipt of the digital communication and the source audio identifier.Based on the user communication exchange preferences, the recipientcomputer system 120 discards the received digital communication orenables the recipient to perceive the received digital communication.The recipient computer system 120 also either suppresses or plays thereceived source audio identifier with each digital communication inaccordance with the user communication exchange preferences.

[0047] In another version of this implementation, the sender computersystem 110 only sends the source audio identifier in the beginning ofthe communication session and not with each subsequent digitalcommunication. The recipient computer system 120 stores the source audioidentifier in a data store included in the device 120A and subsequentlyaccesses and plays it with each subsequent digital communicationreceived from the sender computer system 110 during that or subsequentcommunication sessions involving the sender.

[0048] The audio identifier data store 144 includes one or more datastorage devices configured to store the source audio identifiers. Thesource audio identifiers may be stored in compressed format and/or inmultiple different formats (e.g., .WAV or MP3 files) to ensurecompatibility with the recipient computer system 120 and to increasespeed of transmission. The source audio identifiers may be indexed byuser identifier. The audio identifier data store 144 may be part of theDCHS 140. In another implementation, all or a portion of the audioidentifier data store 144 may be located in a computer system or in adata storage device external to the DCHS 140.

[0049] The configuration data store 146 includes one or more datastorage devices configured to store user profile information and usercommunication exchange preferences. The information in the configurationdata store 146 is typically collected during service registration orservice setup. The user profile information and user communicationexchange preferences may be indexed by user identifier. The audioidentifier data store 144 and the configuration data store 146 may beintegrated into a single data store that stores user audio identifiers,user profile information, and user communication exchange preferences.

[0050]FIG. 2 shows a process 200 for enabling a presentation of a sourceaudio identifier upon receipt of a first digital communication receivedthrough a digital communication handling system (DCHS) at the beginningof a communication session between a sender computer system and arecipient computer system. For convenience, particular componentsdescribed with respect to FIG. 1 are referenced as performing theprocess 200. However, similar methodologies may be applied in otherimplementations where different components are used to define thestructure of the system, or where the functionality is distributeddifferently among the components shown by FIG. 1.

[0051] The sender computer system 110 sends a digital communicationaddressed to the recipient computer system 120 (202). The digitalcommunication includes or may be associated with a sender useridentifier and a recipient user identifier.

[0052] The digital communication processor 142 receives the digitalcommunication (204) and accesses the configuration data store 146 toretrieve the user communication exchange preferences corresponding tothe associated recipient user identifier (206). The digitalcommunication processor 142 determines whether the recipient prohibitsperception of digital communications from the sender by checking whetherthe sender user identifier is included on a black list of the recipient(208). If the recipient prohibits perception of digital communicationsfrom the sender, the digital communication is discarded (210). In someimplementations, the digital communication processor 142 mayadditionally send a notification message to the sender computer system110 indicating that the digital communication was not successfully sentto the recipient (not shown).

[0053] If the recipient authorizes digital communications from thesender, the digital communication processor 142 determines whether theuser corresponding to the recipient user identifier is logged in orotherwise available to receive digital communications from the sendercomputer system 110 (212). The digital communication processor 142 mayquery or otherwise access a login system or a presence detection systemthat may be local or remote to the DCHS 140.

[0054] If the recipient is not logged in, online, or otherwise availableto receive digital communications, the digital communication processor142 may either discard the digital communication or deposit the digitalcommunication in a data store associated with the recipient useridentifier for later retrieval by the recipient (214). For example, ifthe digital communication is an instant message, the instant message maybe discarded. On the other hand, if the digital communication is ane-mail, the e-mail may be deposited in the mailbox of the recipient. Insome implementations, the digital communication processor 142 mayadditionally send to the sender computer system 110 a notificationmessage indicating that the recipient is not available to receivecommunications and that the digital communication has been discarded or,alternatively, deposited for later retrieval.

[0055] If the recipient is logged in, online, or otherwise available toreceive digital communications, the digital communication processor 142accesses the sender profile from the configuration data store 146 (216).The digital communication processor 142 determines whether the recipientauthorizes digital communications with source audio identifiers based onthe recipient communication exchange preferences (218). For example, ifthe sender user identifier is included on the gray list of therecipient, the recipient does not authorize digital communications withsource audio identifiers. If the sender user identifier is included onthe white list of the recipient, the recipient authorizes digitalcommunications with source audio identifiers. If the sender useridentifier is not included on the white list or the gray list of therecipient, the recipient will authorize digital communications withsource audio identifiers only if authorization is in accordance with thedefault response algorithm established for the recipient or if therecipient manually specifies their desire or willingness to authorize.

[0056]FIG. 3A shows one implementation of operation 218 using anexemplary default response algorithm that may be used to determinewhether the source audio identifier should be authorized or rejected.The digital communication processor 142 determines whether the sender isincluded on the white list of the recipient (218 a). If the sender isincluded on the white list, the digital communication processor 142proceeds to operation 228. If the sender is not included on the whitelist, the digital communication processor 142 determines whether thesender is included on the gray list of the recipient (218 b). If thesender is included on the gray list, the digital communication processor142 proceeds to operation 220. If the sender is not included on thewhite or gray lists, the digital communication processor 142 executesthe default response algorithm by sending a query to the recipientcomputer system 120 asking the recipient whether to authorize or rejectthe source audio identifier (218 c).

[0057] The recipient computer system 120 receives the query (218 d) andenables the recipient to perceive and respond to the query (218 e). Forexample, the recipient may perceive the query in a pop-up window thatincludes an option to authorize the source audio identifier and anoption to reject the source audio identifier. The pop-up window maydisplay all or a portion of the sender profile. Additionally oralternatively, the pop-up window may present options to add the senderto the white, gray, or black lists of the recipient. Once the recipientresponds to the query by selecting one or more options, the recipientcomputer system 120 sends the response to the digital communicationprocessor 142 (218 g). An example of a user interface that may be usedto query the recipient is shown in FIG. 3B.

[0058] If the selected options include adding the sender to the white,gray, or black lists of the recipient, the digital communicationprocessor may access the configuration data store 146 and add the senderuser identifier to the appropriate list or lists associated with therecipient user identifier. The digital communication processor 142 alsodetermines whether the selected options correspond to authorization orrejection of the digital communication (218 h). If the selected optionsreject the digital communication, the digital communication processor142 discards the digital communication (218 i). If the selected optionsauthorize the digital communication, the digital communication processor142 determines whether the selected options correspond to authorizationor rejection of the source audio identifier (218 j). If the selectedoptions authorize the source audio identifier, the digital communicationprocessor 142 proceeds to operation 228. If the selected options rejectthe sender audio identifier the digital communication processor 142proceeds to operation 220.

[0059]FIG. 3B shows a user interface 300 that may be presented to theuser by the recipient computer system 120 upon receipt of an incomingmessage with an accompanying source audio identifier. The user interface300 includes a statement 310 informing the user of the existence of anincoming message with an accompanying source audio identifier andincludes sender profile information 320. The sender profile information320 may include the name of the sender 321 (e.g., Bob Devane), the IMhandle of the sender 322 (e.g., BobD123), the e-mail address of thesender 323 (e.g., BobDev@hotmail.com), the direct number of the sender324 (e.g., (703) 123-4567), the time and date when the message is beingsent 326 (e.g., 5:45 EDT on May 17, 2002), and other sender profileinformation 325. The other sender profile information 325 may include,for example, the geographic location of the sender (e.g., Dulles, Va.)and information stored in an address book or calendar that is accessiblebased on the identity of the sender (e.g., Meeting scheduled with Bob onSaturday Jul. 12, 2003). Such information may be stored locally at therecipient computer system 120 or may be accessible from a remote device(e.g., DCHS 140) across the data network 130. In another implementation,the user interface 300 includes a subset of the sender profileinformation 320 displayed in FIG. 3B.

[0060] The user interface 300 also includes a set of option buttons 330that may be selected by the user to react to the message. The optionbuttons 330 may include, for example, an option button to sample thesource audio identifier 331, an option button to take the message andauthorize the source audio identifier 332, an option button to take themessage and use an audio identifier other than the source audioidentifier (e.g., a default audio identifier) 334, and an option buttonto not take the message 336. The option buttons may be selected tocontrol the disposition of the current message.

[0061] The user may select button 331 to hear or otherwise perceive thesource audio identifier prior to deciding how to dispose of the incomingmessage. Hearing the source audio identifier enables the user to make amore informed decision regarding whether to authorize or reject theaudio identifier. The user may then select one of the other buttons 332,334, 336 to dispose of the message.

[0062] Selecting the option button 332 to take the message with thesource audio identifier results in the digital communication and sourceaudio identifier being perceived by the recipient. Selecting the optionbutton 445 to take the message with a default audio identifier resultsin the digital communication and a default audio identifier beingperceived by the recipient. In yet another implementation, uponselecting button 334, the recipient is prompted to specify an audioidentifier or, alternatively, specify no audio identifier to indicatereceipt of the current digital communication from the sender. Therecipient-specified audio identifier may be used for futurecommunication received from the sender if checkbox 335 is selected asdiscussed below. Selecting the option button to not take the message 336results in the recipient neither perceiving the digital communicationnor the source audio identifier. In another implementation, the userinterface 300 includes an option button to take the message without anyaudio identifier being played or otherwise perceived by the recipient.The user interface 300 closes or is otherwise disabled upon therecipient selecting one of the option buttons 330.

[0063] Next to the option buttons 332, 334, and 336 are checkboxes 333,335, and 337, respectively. Unlike the option buttons 330 which handledisposition of the current digital communication received from thesender, the checkboxes 333, 335, and 337 may be selected (i.e.,“checked”) to control the disposition of future digital communicationsreceived from the sender. The user interface 300 allows the user toselect none or one of the three checkboxes. If the recipient selectscheckbox 333, the sender user identifier is placed on the white list ofthe recipient upon selection of one of the option buttons 330. If therecipient selects checkbox 335, the sender user identifier is placed onthe gray list of the recipient upon selection of one of the optionbuttons 330. If the recipient selects option 337, the sender useridentifier is placed on the black list of the recipient upon selectionof one of the option buttons 330. Additionally or alternatively, theuser interface 300 may include checkboxes or buttons (not shown) thatenable the user to specify that the source audio identifier or defaultaudio identifier should be played only upon receipt of futurecommunications that are at the beginning of a communication session witha sender rather than upon receipt of every future communication from thesender in a communication session.

[0064] If the recipient does not select any of the checkboxes 333, 335,or 337, any future digital communication received from the senderassociated with a source audio identifier will result in displaying theuser interface 300 again and once again prompting the recipient toselect options regarding how the digital communication will beprocessed. Alternatively, the user interface 300 may be displayed onlyonce for a given communication session, and thus, not selecting any ofthe checkboxes 333, 335, and 337 results in displaying the userinterface 300 again only at the beginning of a future communicationsession with the sender.

[0065] The user interface 300 may vary depending on the capabilities ofthe recipient computer system 120. A recipient computer system 120 withmore limited capabilities may provide less sender profile information320 and less options 330 while recipient computer systems 120 withgreater capabilities may provide more sender profile information 320 andmore options 330.

[0066] Referring again to FIG. 2, if the recipient rejects the sourceaudio identifier, the digital communication processor 142 sends orenables the recipient computer system 120 to access the sender profileand the digital communication (220). The recipient computer system 120accesses or receives the sender profile and digital communication (222),stores the sender profile (224), and enables the recipient to perceivethe digital communication and the sender profile (226). The recipientmay perceive the digital communication and the sender profile through auser interface specific to the type of digital communication received.For example, if the digital communication is an instant message, theinstant message may be displayed in a dialog window and the senderprofile may be accessed by the user by selecting the IM handle of thesender in the dialog window or in another window displaying a list of IMhandles (e.g., a buddy list) selected by or otherwise associated withthe recipient. If the digital communication is an e-mail message, thee-mail header information may be displayed in an Inbox list, the e-mailcontents may be displayed upon selection of the e-mail from the list,and the sender profile information may be displayed upon selection ofthe e-mail address of the sender.

[0067] If the recipient authorizes digital communications with sourceaudio identifiers from the sender, the digital communication processor142 accesses the source audio identifier corresponding to the senderuser identifier from the audio identifier data store 146 (228). Thedigital communication processor 142 sends or enables the recipientcomputer system 120 to access the sender profile, the digitalcommunication, and the source audio identifier (230).

[0068] The recipient computer system 120 accesses or receives the senderprofile, source audio identifier, and digital communication (232), andstores the sender profile and source audio identifier (234). The sourceaudio identifier and sender profile may be stored, temporarily orpermanently, in a data store that is part of the recipient computersystem 120 or is remote but communicatively coupled to the recipientcomputer system 120. In another implementation, the recipient computersystem 120 renders but does not store the source audio identifier.

[0069] The recipient computer system 120 enables the recipient toperceive the source audio identifier (236) prior to or concurrent withenabling the recipient to perceive the digital communication and senderprofile (238). The recipient computer system 120 may enable therecipient to perceive the source audio identifier by converting theaudio identifier to audio which may be heard by the recipient. The audiois heard shortly after receipt of the digital communication and therebyinforms the recipient that a digital communication has been receivedfrom that particular sender.

[0070] In another implementation of process 200, the digitalcommunication processor 142 does not retrieve a sender profile and doesnot send or enable the recipient computer system 120 access to thesender profile. Instead the digital communication processor 142 sendsthe digital communication without a sender profile and, if applicable,with a source audio identifier to the recipient computer system 120.

[0071]FIG. 4 shows a process 400 for enabling a presentation of a sourceaudio identifier upon receipt of a digital communication receivedthrough a digital communication handling system after a communicationsession has already begun and the source audio identifier has alreadybeen stored by the recipient computer system. For convenience,particular components described with respect to FIG. 1 are referenced asperforming the process 400. However, similar methodologies may beapplied in other implementations where different components are used todefine the structure of the system, or where the functionality isdistributed differently among the components shown by FIG. 1. Process400 is used to process the digital communications sent after sending thefirst digital communication in the communication session between thesender computer system 110 and the recipient computer system 120.Process 400 assumes that the recipient computer system 120 authorizesand has already stored the source audio identifier.

[0072] The sender computer system 110 sends a digital communicationaddressed to the recipient computer system 120 (402). The digitalcommunication includes or may be associated with a sender useridentifier and a recipient user identifier. The digital communicationprocessor 142 receives the digital communication (404) and determineswhether the user corresponding to the recipient user identifier is stilllogged in or is otherwise still available to receive digitalcommunications from the sender computer system 110 (406). The digitalcommunication processor 142 may query or otherwise access a login systemor a presence detection system that may be local or remote to the DCHS140.

[0073] If the recipient is no longer logged in, online, or otherwiseavailable to receive digital communications, the digital communicationprocessor 142 may either discard the digital communication or depositthe digital communication in a data store associated with the recipientuser identifier for later retrieval by the recipient (408). In someimplementations, the digital communication processor 142 sends anotification message to the sender computer system 110 indicating thatthe recipient is no longer available (not shown). If the recipient islogged in, online, or otherwise available to receive digitalcommunications, the digital communication processor 142 sends or enablesthe recipient computer system 120 to access the digital communication(410).

[0074] The recipient computer system 120 receives or accesses thedigital communication (412) and accesses the stored source audioidentifier corresponding to the sender user identifier of the receiveddigital communication (414). The recipient computer system 120 enablesthe recipient to perceive the source audio identifier (416) prior to orconcurrent to enabling the recipient to perceive the digitalcommunication (418).

[0075] Process 400 assumes that the recipient computer system 120 hasalready received and stored a source audio identifier corresponding tothe sender of the digital communication. However, if such a source audioidentifier had not been stored by the recipient computer system 120, therecipient computer system 120 may request and receive the source audioidentifier from the DCP 142. The recipient computer system 120 also mayrequest and receive a source audio identifier in an implementation inwhich the source audio identifier used to indicate receipt of a firstcommunication in a communication session is different than the sourceaudio identifier used to indicate receipt of subsequent communicationsin the communication session. FIG. 5 shows a process 500 for enabling apresentation of a source audio identifier upon receipt of a digitalcommunication received through a digital communication handling systemwherein the source audio identifier is stored at the sender computersystem and the recipient communication exchange preferences are storedat the recipient computer system. For convenience, particular componentsdescribed with respect to FIG. 5 are referenced as performing theprocess 500. However, similar methodologies may be applied in otherimplementations where different components are used to define thestructure of the system, or where the functionality is distributeddifferently among the components shown by FIG. 1. Process 500 isdifferent from processes 200 and 400 in that the sender computer system110, rather than the DCHP 140, stores the source audio identifiers andthe recipient computer system 110, rather than the DCHP 140, stores andapplies the recipient communication exchange preferences. Process 500minimizes the processing demands on the DCHP 140 by pushing the storageand intelligence to the sender and recipient computer systems.

[0076] The sender computer system 110 sends a digital communicationaddressed to the recipient computer system 120 and a source audioidentifier (502). The digital communication includes or may beassociated with a sender user identifier and a recipient useridentifier. The digital communication processor 142 receives the digitalcommunication and source audio identifier (504) and determines whetherthe user corresponding to the recipient user identifier is logged in oris otherwise available to receive digital communications from the sendercomputer system 110 (506). The digital communication processor 142 mayquery or otherwise access a login system or a presence detection systemthat may be local or remote to the DCHS 140.

[0077] If the recipient is not logged in, online, or otherwise availableto receive digital communications, the digital communication processor142 may either discard the digital communication or deposit the digitalcommunication in a data store associated with the recipient useridentifier for later retrieval by the recipient (508). In someimplementations, the digital communication processor 142 sends anotification message to the sender computer system 110 indicating thatthe recipient is not available. If the recipient is logged in, online,or otherwise available to receive digital communications, the digitalcommunication processor 142 sends or enables the recipient computersystem 120 to access the digital communication and the source audioidentifier (510).

[0078] The recipient computer system 120 receives or accesses thedigital communication and source audio identifier (512). The recipientcomputer system 120 accesses the recipient communication exchangepreferences and determines whether the recipient authorizes digitalcommunications sent by the sender (i.e., determines whether the senderuser identifier is included on the recipient's black list) (514). If therecipient does not authorize digital communications from the sender, thedigital communication is discarded (516). In some implementations, thedigital communication processor 142 may additionally send a notificationmessage to the sender computer system 110 indicating that the digitalcommunication was not sent to the recipient. If the recipient authorizesdigital communications from the sender, the digital communicationprocessor 142 determines whether the recipient authorizes digitalcommunications with source audio identifiers based on the recipientcommunication exchange preferences (518).

[0079]FIG. 6 shows one implementation of operation 518 using anexemplary default response algorithm that asks the recipient whether toauthorize or reject the source audio identifier. The recipient computersystem 120 determines whether the sender is included on the white listof the recipient (518 a). If the sender is included on the white list,the recipient computer system 120 proceeds to operation 520. If thesender is not included on the white list, the recipient computer system120 determines whether the sender is included on the gray list of therecipient (518 b). If the sender is included on the gray list, therecipient computer system 120 proceeds to operation 522.

[0080] If the sender is not included on the white or gray lists, therecipient computer system 120 executes the default response algorithm byenabling the recipient to perceive and respond to a query asking therecipient whether to authorize or reject the source audio identifier(518 c). The recipient may perceive the query (518 c) in a userinterface like the one shown in FIG. 3B. Once the recipient responds tothe query by selecting one or more options (518 c), the recipientcomputer system 120 determines whether the selected options correspondto authorization or rejection of the digital communication (518 d). Ifthe selected options reject the digital communication, the recipientcomputer system 120 discards the digital communication (518 e). If theselected options authorize the digital communication, the recipientcomputer system 120 determines whether the selected options correspondto authorization or rejection of the source audio identifier (518 f). Ifthe selected options authorize the source audio identifier, therecipient computer system 120 proceeds to operation 520. If the selectedoptions do not authorize the source audio identifier, the recipientcomputer system 120 proceeds to operation 522.

[0081] Referring back to FIG. 5, if the recipient authorizes digitalcommunications with source audio identifiers (518), the recipientcomputer system 120 enables the recipient to perceive the source audioidentifier received with the digital communication (520) prior to orconcurrent to enabling the recipient to perceive the digitalcommunication (522). In another implementation, the recipient computersystem 120 stores the source audio identifier prior to enabling therecipient to perceive the source audio identifier. If the recipient doesnot authorize digital communications with source audio identifiers(i.e., the sender user identifier is included on the gray list of therecipient), the recipient computer system 120 enables the recipient toperceive the digital communication (522) without enabling the recipientto perceive the received source audio identifier.

[0082] The process 500 may be performed for each digital communicationsent in a communication session between the sender computer system 110and the recipient computer system 120. Alternatively, the process 500may be performed for the first digital communication sent in thecommunication session. The recipient computer system 120 may store thesource audio identifier, and the sender computer system 110 may thensend subsequent digital communications without the source audioidentifier. The recipient computer system 120 may then process thesubsequent digital communications in accordance with the determinedrecipient communication exchange preferences, access the stored sourceaudio identifier, and enable the recipient to perceive the stored sourceaudio identifier if appropriate.

[0083] In another implementation, the sender computer system 110 alsosends a sender profile with the source audio identifier and the digitalcommunication. The sender profile is received by the recipient computersystem 120 along with the digital communication and source audioidentifier. All or part of the sender profile may be stored andperceived by the recipient if the recipient computer system 120determines that the recipient authorizes digital communications from thesender.

[0084] In yet another implementation, the digital communicationprocessor 142, rather than the sender computer system 110, stores thesource audio identifiers (e.g., the source audio identifiers may bestored in the audio identifier data store 144), and the recipientcomputer system 120 stores and applies user communication exchangepreferences. In this implementation, the sender computer system 110sends a digital communication without a source audio identifier, and thedigital communication processor 142 receives the digital communication,determines whether the recipient is available to receive digitalcommunications, and, if the recipient is available, accesses and sends asource audio identifier to the recipient computer system 120 in additionto sending the digital communication. The recipient computer system 120receives the source audio identifier and digital communication andprocesses the source audio identifier and digital communication inaccordance with operations 512-522.

[0085] Referring to FIG. 7, a system 700 for enabling the exchange ofdigital communications with source audio identifiers includes a sendercomputer system 710 that sends a digital communication and source audioidentifier to a recipient computer system 720 through a network 730. Thesender computer system 710 and recipient computer system 720respectively include devices 710A, 720A that communicate withcontrollers 710B, 720B over a data pathway 710C, 720C. Examples of eachelement within the communications system 700 of FIG. 7 are describedbroadly above with respect to FIG. 1. In particular, the sender computersystem 710, the recipient computer system 720, and the network 730typically have attributes comparable to those described above withrespect to the sender computer system 110, the recipient computer system120, and the network 130 of FIG. 1, respectively.

[0086] The sender computer system 710, however, differs from the sendercomputer system 110 in that the sender computer system 710 does not senddigital communications to a digital communications handling system (140in FIG. 1). Rather, the sender computer system 710 directly sendsdigital communications and a source audio identifier to the recipientcomputer system 720 through a direct connection. The direct connectionmay be, for example, an open socket connection (i.e., peer-to-peersocket connection) such as, for example, an open Transmission ControlProtocol (TCP) connection. Both the sender computer system 710 and therecipient computer system 720 may include a Winsock Application ProgramInterface (API) for establishing the direct connection. In oneimplementation, the digital communications sent by sender computersystem 710 are instant messages.

[0087]FIG. 8 shows a process 800 for enabling a presentation of a sourceaudio identifier upon receipt of a digital communication received fromthe sender computer system over a direct connection. For convenience,particular components described with respect to FIG. 7 are referenced asperforming the process 800. However, similar methodologies may beapplied in other implementations where different components are used todefine the structure of the system, or where the functionality isdistributed differently among the components shown by FIG. 7.

[0088] The sender computer system 710 sends or enables the recipientcomputer system 720 to access a digital communication and a source audioidentifier (802). The recipient computer system 720 receives or accessesthe digital communication and source audio identifier (804). Therecipient computer system 720 accesses the recipient communicationexchange preferences and determines whether the recipient authorizesdigital communications sent by the sender (i.e., determines whether thesender user identifier is included on the recipient's black list) (806).If the recipient does not authorize digital communications from thesender, the digital communication is discarded (808). In someimplementations, the recipient computer system 720 may additionally senda notification message to the sender computer system 710 indicating thatthe digital communication was discarded (not shown). If the recipientauthorizes digital communications from the sender, the digitalcommunication processor 142 determines whether the recipient authorizesdigital communications with source audio identifiers based on therecipient communication exchange preferences (i.e., white and gray listsand the default response algorithm) (810).

[0089] If the recipient authorizes digital communications with sourceaudio identifiers, the recipient computer system 720 enables therecipient to perceive the source audio identifier received with thedigital communication (812) prior to or concurrent to enabling therecipient to perceive the digital communication (814). In anotherimplementation, the recipient computer system 720 stores the sourceaudio identifier prior to enabling the recipient to perceive the sourceaudio identifier. If the recipient does not authorize digitalcommunications with source audio identifiers (e.g., the sender useridentifier is included on the gray list of the recipient), the recipientcomputer system 720 enables the recipient to perceive the digitalcommunication (814) without enabling the recipient to perceive thereceived source audio identifier.

[0090] The process 800 may be performed for each digital communicationsent in a communication session between the sender computer system 710and the recipient computer system 720. Alternatively, the process 800may be performed for the first digital communication sent in thecommunication session. The recipient computer system 720 may store thesource audio identifier, and the sender computer system 710 may thensend subsequent digital communications without the source audioidentifier. The recipient computer system 720 may then process thesubsequent digital communications in accordance with the determinedrecipient communication exchange preferences, access the stored sourceaudio identifier, and enable the recipient to perceive the stored sourceaudio identifier if appropriate.

[0091] In another implementation, the sender computer system 710 alsosends a sender profile with the source audio identifier and the digitalcommunication. The sender profile is received by the recipient computersystem 720 along with the digital communication and source audioidentifier. All or part of the sender profile may be stored andperceived by the recipient if the recipient computer system 720determines that the recipient authorizes digital communications from thesender.

[0092] The above systems and processes may be used for both voice anddata communication contexts. FIGS. 9-11 illustrate one possibleimplementation of source audio identifiers used in a voice communicationcontext.

[0093] Referring to FIG. 9, a telephone system 100 for enablingtelephone calls with source audio identifiers includes a caller phone910 that communicates with a call recipient phone 920 through atelephone network 930. The telephone network 930 may access an audioidentifier data store 944 and a configuration data store 946. In someimplementations, the audio identifier data store 944 and theconfiguration data store 946 are part of the telephone network 930.

[0094] The caller phone 910 and the call recipient phone 920 may belandline telephones that allow communications over the telephone network930. In another implementation, the caller phone 910 and/or the calldestination phone 920 may be mobile telephones or mobile personaldigital assistants (PDAs) with embedded cellular phone technology.

[0095] The caller phone 910 is configured to place a call to the callrecipient phone 920 across the telephone network 930. In anotherimplementation, the caller phone 910 may additionally be configured tosend a source audio identifier to the caller recipient phone 920 as partof the call setup. The caller phone 910 may send the source audioidentifier as an in-band or out-of-band signal through the telephonenetwork 930. In a cellular or mobile phone system, the caller phone 910may, for example, send the source audio identifier as a message usingMultimedia Message Service (MMS) or Short Message Service (SMS) prior toor concurrent to sending the call setup request. The MMS or SMS messagetypically includes the sender user identifier and may contain some orall of the sender profile. In another implementation, the caller phone910 and the call recipient phone 920 have Internet access and the callerphone 910 may send the source audio identifier over the Internet to thecall recipient phone 920.

[0096] When the source audio identifier is sent as an out-of-bandsignal, the caller phone 910 may receive the source audio identifierbefore or after receiving the ringing signal from the telephone network930. If the caller phone 910 has received multiple source audioidentifiers prior to receiving the ringing signal, the caller phone 910identifies the appropriate source audio identifier based on the calleridentity information (e.g., Automatic Number Identification (ANI)information). If the caller phone 910 has not received a source audioidentifier upon receiving the ringing signal from the telephone network930, the caller phone 910 may wait a short predetermined amount of timeto receive the source audio identifier. If no source audio identifier isreceived after expiration of the predetermined amount of time, thecaller phone 910 may use a default ringing signal.

[0097] The call recipient phone 920 is configured to receive an incomingcall and a source audio identifier from the telephone network 930 andenable a recipient to perceive the incoming call and, if applicable, thesource audio identifier. The call recipient phone 920 may be configuredto store the source audio identifier and enable the recipient toperceive the source audio identifier as a ringing signal that indicatesan incoming call from the corresponding caller. For example, the sourceaudio identifier may be stored as a set of full music or standard ringtones. The call recipient phone 920 also may be configured to storedefault ringing signals that are played if the caller does not send asource audio identifier or, alternatively, if the caller sends a sourceaudio identifier, but the call recipient does not allow the source audioidentifier to be played. The default ringing signals may vary based onthe direct number of the caller phone 910. In a cellular or mobile phonesystem, the call recipient phone 920 may, for example, receive thesource audio identifier in an MMS or SMS message prior to or concurrentto receiving the incoming call. In another implementation, the callrecipient phone 920 has Internet access and receives the source audioidentifier over the Internet prior to or concurrent to receiving theincoming call. The call recipient phone 920 plays the source audioidentifier upon receiving a ringing signal from the telephone network930.

[0098] In yet another implementation, the call recipient phone 920 maydetermine whether or not to play the source audio identifier as aringing signal and whether or not to accept the call. In thisimplementation, the call recipient phone 920 is configured to store usercommunication exchange preferences and determine whether to allow thesource audio identifier to be played in accordance with the usercommunication exchange preferences.

[0099] The telephone network 930 is configured to enable direct orindirect voice communications between the caller phone 910 and the calldestination phone 920. The telephone network 930 may include acircuit-switched voice network, a packet-switched data network, or anyother network able to carry voice. For example, circuit-switched voicenetworks may include the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), andpacket-switched data networks may include networks based on the Internetprotocol (IP) or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and may support voiceusing, for example, Voice-over-IP, Voice-over-ATM, or other comparableprotocols used for voice data communications.

[0100] The telephone network 930 may be configured to receive the directnumber of the call recipient phone from the caller phone 910, access aconfiguration data store 942 to determine whether the caller hasregistered for source audio identifier service, access a correspondingsource audio identifier, and send a call setup request and a sourceaudio identifier, if applicable, to the call recipient phone 920. Thesource audio identifier may be sent as an in-band or out-of-band signalprior to or concurrent to sending the call setup request to the callerphone 910. In one implementation, the telephone network 930 isconfigured to process MMS or SMS messages and transmit the source audioidentifier as an MMS or SMS message. In another implementation, thetelephone network 930 may send the source audio identifier to the callrecipient phone 920 over the Internet prior to or concurrent to settingup the call. The call recipient phone 920 plays the source audioidentifier upon receiving a ringing signal from the telephone network930 corresponding to the caller, e.g., using the ANI informationassociated with the caller telephone number as a means for coordinatingthe incoming call and the source audio identifier.

[0101] In another implementation, the telephone network 930 may beconfigured to receive the source audio identifier from the caller phone910 during call setup as an in-band or out-of-band signal. For example,the telephone network 930 may be configured to receive the source audioidentifier or a link to the source audio identifier as an additionalcomponent of the call destination phone number received from the callerphone 910 through a signal path.

[0102] The audio identifier data store 942 and the configuration datastore 946 are described broadly above with respect to FIG. 1. Inparticular, the audio identifier data store 942 and the configurationdata store 946 typically have attributes comparable to those describedabove with respect to the audio identifier data store 142 and theconfiguration data store 146 of FIG. 1, respectively. The audioidentifier data store 942 is configured to store the source audioidentifiers as, for example, standard or full music ring tones encodedas digital data and indexed by the direct number of the caller phone.The configuration data store 946 is configured to store caller serviceprofiles which indicate the telephone services enabled on the phone lineof the caller. The caller service profiles include an indication whetherthe caller has registered for source audio identifier service and may beindexed by direct number of the caller phone. The configuration datastore 946 also may store user profiles and user communication exchangepreferences. The audio identifier data store 942 and the configurationdata store 946 may be integrated in a single data store.

[0103]FIG. 10 shows a process 1000 for enabling a presentation of asource audio identifier as a ringing signal to indicate an incoming callfrom a caller. For convenience, particular components described withrespect to FIG. 9 are referenced as performing the process 1000.However, similar methodologies may be applied in other implementationswhere different components are used to define the structure of thesystem, or where the functionality is distributed differently among thecomponents shown by FIG. 9.

[0104] The user of the caller phone 910 dials or otherwise specifies thedirect number of the call recipient phone 920 (1002). The telephonenetwork 930 receives the direct number of the call recipient phone 920and identifies the direct number of the caller phone 910 (1004). Thetelephone network 930 determines whether the call recipient phone lineis available to receive a call (1006). If the call recipient phone lineis busy or otherwise unavailable to receive a phone call, the telephonenetwork processes the call in accordance with the status of the callrecipient phone line (e.g., by sending a busy signal to the caller phone910) (1008).

[0105] If the call recipient phone line is available to receive a phonecall, the telephone network 930 accesses the caller service profile fromthe configuration data store 946 (1010) and determines whether thecaller is registered for source audio identifier service based on thecaller service profile (1012). If the caller is not registered forsource audio identifier service the telephone network 930 sets up thecall and sends a ring tone trigger to the call recipient phone 920(1026).

[0106] If the caller is registered for source audio identifier service,the telephone network 930 accesses the user communication exchangepreferences corresponding to the direct number of the call recipientphone from the configuration data store 146 (1014) and determineswhether the call recipient allows the source audio identifier to beplayed (1016). Determining whether the call recipient allows the sourceaudio identifier to be played is accomplished in the same manner asdiscussed above with respect to operation 218 in FIGS. 2 and 3A, whereinthe telephone network 930 performs the function of the digitalcommunication processor 142 and the call recipient phone 920 performsthe function of the recipient computer system 120. The user interface300 also may be displayed by the call recipient phone 920 when thesender user identifier is not included on the gray, white, or blacklists of the recipient. In this implementation, the message is anincoming call and a special ringing tone is used to inform the recipientof the call and inform the recipient that the caller has a source audioidentifier. The call recipient may then decide whether to accept thecall and whether to authorize the source audio identifier or ring toneof the caller by interacting with the user interface 300 .

[0107] If the call recipient does not allow the source audio identifierto be played, the telephone network 930 sets up the call and sends aring tone trigger to the call recipient phone 920 (1026). If the callrecipient allows the source audio identifier to be played, the telephonenetwork 930 accesses the source audio identifier corresponding to thedirect number of the caller phone from the audio identifier data store944 (1018) and sends the source audio identifier to the call recipientphone 920 (1020) prior to or concurrent to setting up the call andsending a ring tone trigger to the call recipient phone (1026).

[0108] The call recipient phone 920 receives the source audio identifier(1024) and stores the source audio identifier (1026). Once the call issetup and the call recipient phone 920 receives the ring tone trigger,the call recipient phone 920 identifies the caller typically using ANIinformation (1028) and determines whether a source audio identifier isavailable for the call (1030). If a source audio identifier is notavailable for the call, the call recipient phone 920 makes the ring toneperceivable by the call recipient by, for example, playing a generic ordefault ring tone (1034). If a source audio identifier is available forthe call, the call recipient phone 920 modifies the ring tone to includethe source audio identifier (e.g., by using the source audio identifieras the ring tone or by concatenating the source audio identifier withthe generic or default ring tone) (1032). The call recipient phone 920then makes the modified ring tone perceivable by the call recipient byplaying the modified ring tone (1034).

[0109]FIG. 11 shows a process 1100 for enabling a presentation of asource audio identifier as a ringing signal that indicates an incomingcall from a caller, wherein the caller phone sends the source audioidentifier to the call recipient phone through a telephone network. Forconvenience, particular components described with respect to FIG. 9 arereferenced as performing the process 1100. However, similarmethodologies may be applied in other implementations where differentcomponents are used to define the structure of the system, or where thefunctionality is distributed differently among the components shown byFIG. 9.

[0110] The user of the caller phone 910 dials or otherwise specifies thedirect number of the call recipient phone 920 and specifies the sourceaudio identifier (1102). The telephone network 930 receives the directnumber of the call recipient phone 920 and the source audio identifier(1104). The telephone network 930 determines whether the call recipientphone line is available to receive a call (1106). If the call recipientphone line is busy or otherwise unavailable to receive a phone call, thetelephone network 130 processes the call in accordance with the statusof the call recipient phone line (e.g., by sending a busy signal to thecaller phone 910) (1108). If the call recipient phone line is availableto receive a phone call, the telephone network 130 sends the sourceaudio identifier to the call recipient phone 920 (1110) prior to orconcurrent to setting up the call and sending a ring tone trigger to thecall recipient phone 920 (1120).

[0111] The call recipient phone 920 receives the source audio identifier(1112) and determines whether the call recipient allows the source audioidentifier to be played (1114). Determining whether the call recipientallows the source audio identifier to be played may be accomplished inthe manner discussed above with respect to operation 518 in FIGS. 5 and6, wherein the telephone network 930 performs the function of thedigital communication processor 142 and the call recipient phone 920performs the function of the recipient computer system 120.

[0112] If the call recipient does not allow the source audio identifierto be played, the call recipient phone 920 discards the source audioidentifier (1116). If the call recipient allows the source audioidentifier to be played, the call recipient phone stores the sourceaudio identifier (1118).

[0113] Once the call is setup and the call recipient phone 920 receivesthe ring tone trigger, the call recipient phone 920 identifies thecaller typically using ANI information (1122) and determines whether asource audio identifier is available for the call (1124). If a sourceaudio identifier is not available for the call, the call recipient phone920 makes the ring tone perceivable by the call recipient by, forexample, playing a generic or default ring tone (1128). If a sourceaudio identifier is available for the call, the call recipient phone 920modifies the ring tone to include the source audio identifier (e.g., byusing the source audio identifier as the ring tone or by concatenatingthe source audio identifier with the generic or default ring tone)(1126). The call recipient phone 920 then makes the modified ring toneperceivable by the call recipient by playing the modified ring tone(1128).

[0114] In yet another implementation, the telephone network 930, ratherthan the caller phone 910, stores the source audio identifiers (e.g.,the source audio identifiers may be stored in the audio identifier datastore 144), and the call recipient phone 920 stores and applies usercommunication exchange preferences. In this implementation, the callerphone 910 sends a digital communication without a source audioidentifier, and the telephone network 930 receives the digitalcommunication, determines whether the recipient phone line is availableto receive an incoming call, and, if the recipient phone line isavailable, accesses and sends a source audio identifier to the callrecipient phone 920 in addition to setting up the call. The callrecipient phone 920 receives the source audio identifier and processesthe source audio identifier in accordance with operations 1112-1128.

[0115] The source audio identifier may be a single sound that identifiesthe sender or, alternatively, may be a concatenated audio message formedfrom multiple sounds that are concatenated together to identify one ormore characteristics of the sender or of the communication in addition,or as an alternative to the sender identity. As shown in FIG. 12, in onepossible implementation, the concatenated audio message 1200 includes afirst sound 1210 signifying a characteristic or trait of the sender orcommunication followed by a second sound 1220 that identifies theindividual sender (e.g., the spoken version of the sender's name). Theidentity sounds are chosen to identify the individual sender while thecharacteristic sounds are chosen to describe, qualify, or characterizethe sender. Characteristic sounds may include, but are not limited to, asound that identifies the location from which the sender iscalling/sending (e.g. from California, home, work, or school), a jobgroup to which the sender belongs (e.g., a doctor, a lawyer, anelectrician, a mechanic, or a plumber), an organization to which themember belongs or works (e.g., the Porsche Club of America, the NationalRifle Association, the Rotary Club, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, andCooper Power Systems), other group membership by the sender (e.g., buddygroup in a recipient's instant message buddy list or category in therecipient's content list), the urgency or importance of the digitalcommunication or call (e.g., a low-pitched sound may indicate that thecall is not urgent while a high-pitched sound may indicate that the callis very urgent), the type of call or digital communication (e.g., asocial call, a business call, an e-mail, an instant message, a callwishing the recipient a happy birthday, or a call wishing the recipienta happy anniversary), the type of communication device used to send thedigital communication (e.g., a desktop personal computer, a pager, aPDA, or a mobile phone), the online status of the sender (e.g., onlineor offline), the availability to receive communications over differentcommunication devices including a cell phone, PDA, or desktop computer,the availability to receive different types of communications (e-mails,phone calls, IMs)), the number of degrees of separation between thesenders and recipient, or the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of adegrees separation threshold by sender.

[0116] The concatenated audio message may be formed of any combinationof identity and/or characteristic sounds. For example, a concatenatedaudio message may be formed solely of identity sounds or, alternatively,may be formed solely of characteristic sounds.

[0117] Referring to FIG. 13, the concatenated audio message 1300 mayprovide multiple levels of information regarding the sender/caller orthe communication sent by the sender by concatenating multiple differentcharacteristic sounds 1310 and identity sounds 1320. FIG. 13, shows thecharacteristic sounds 1310 concatenated at the beginning of theconcatenated audio message 1300 and the identity sounds 1320concatenated at the end of the concatenated audio message 1300. However,any order of concatenation is possible. As more sounds are concatenated,the sender is able to provide the call recipient with increasing levelsof information. When the concatenated audio message is used as a ringtone, the concatenated sounds may be played multiple times in successionuntil the recipient answers the phone or the call is otherwise disposedof.

[0118] The length of each concatenated sound within the concatenatedaudio message may be specified by the sender. The sender computer system110, 510 or the caller phone 910 may enable the sender to limit thelength and number of concatenated sounds that may be sent. Additionallyor alternatively, the digital communication processor 142 or thetelephone network 930 may limit the total length of the concatenatedaudio message or the total number and length of each particularconcatenated sound in the concatenated audio message.

[0119] The length of each concatenated sound within the concatenatedaudio message also may be specified by the recipient. The concatenatedaudio message may be encoded such that the recipient computer system120, 520 or the call recipient phone 920 recognizes and distinguishesbetween each concatenated sound. The recipient computer system 120, 520or the call recipient phone 920 may enable the recipient to controlwhether each concatenated sound is played and the length of eachconcatenated sound. The recipient may control the playback of eachconcatenated sound while the concatenated sounds are playing (e.g., mayselect a function on the call recipient phone 920 or the recipientcomputer system 120, 520 to skip to the next concatenated sound), or,additionally or alternatively, the recipient may setup usercommunication exchange preferences that specify the length, number, andtype of concatenated sounds that are played upon receipt of aconcatenated audio message.

[0120] In another implementation, the digital communication processor142 or the telephone network 920 processes the concatenated audiomessage in accordance with the user communication exchange preferencesof the recipient prior to sending the concatenated audio message to therecipient computer system 120, 520 or to the call recipient phone 920.In yet another implementation, the length of the concatenated audiomessage that is played is a default or a preselected value and is notspecified by the recipient or the sender. The length also may be variedon a per-group or a per-user basis.

[0121] The concatenated audio message also may be concatenated with oneor more recipient-specified sounds. The recipient-specified sounds maybe characteristic sounds or identity sounds. For example, the recipientmay select or define a characteristic sound that indicates that thesender is a member of the buddy list of the recipient. When a recipientreceives an Instant Message from a sender listed in the buddy list ofthe recipient, a concatenated audio message may be formed byconcatenating a recipient-specified buddy list characteristic sound tothe end of the sender-specified sound(s). By listening to theconcatenated audio message, the recipient is able to both identify thesender and determine that the sender is a member of the buddy list ofthe recipient. The characteristic sound may be modified to indicate thatthe sender belongs to the co-worker or family groups in the buddy listof the recipient or, alternatively, to indicate that the sender belongsto any arbitrary group defined by the recipient, by the recipientcomputer system 120, 520, or by the call recipient phone 920.

[0122] The recipient also may specify identity sounds. For example, arecipient may specify an identity sound saying “DaBigBoss!” to indicatereceipt of a communication from the recipient's boss. If the boss haschosen a sender-specified identity sound saying “John”, the recipienthears “DaBigBoss! John” upon receipt of a digital communication or acall from the boss.

[0123]FIG. 14 shows a concatenated audio message 1400 that includessender-specified sounds 1410 concatenated with one or morerecipient-specified characteristic sounds 1420 and one or morerecipient-specified identity sounds 1430. FIG. 15A shows another exampleof a concatenated audio message 1500 formed by mixing and concatenatingsender-specified sounds 1510 and recipient-specified sounds 1520. Theorder in which the sounds are concatenated may be varied. For example,the sounds specified by the recipient may appear first, followed by thesounds specified by the sender.

[0124] In another implementation, all or some of the sounds in theconcatenated audio message are not specified by the recipient or by thesender but rather are more globally defined. For example, the sounds maybe defined by the DCHS 140, by the telephone network 930, or by anothersystem communicatively coupled to the recipient computer system 120, 520or to the call recipient phone 920.

[0125]FIG. 16 shows a process 1600 for creating and enabling perceptionof a concatenated audio message that includes recipient-specifiedsounds. Process 1600 may be performed by the recipient computer system120, 520 or by the call recipient phone 920. Additionally oralternatively, process 1600 may be performed by the digitalcommunication processor 142 or by the telephone network 930.

[0126] A source audio identifier is received or accessed (1610). Theaccessing of the source audio identifier may correspond to operation 228of process 200, operation 512 of process 500, operation 804 of process800, operation 1018 of process 1000, or operation 1104 of process 1100.The identity of the sender and characteristics of the sender orcommunication are determined (1620). The identity of the sender may bedetermined from the sender user identifier of the digital communication,the direct number of the call, or from sender identity informationincluded or received with the source audio identifier. The recipientcomputer system 120, 520, the call recipient phone 920, the digitalcommunication processor 142, or the telephone network 930 may determinethe identity or characteristics of the caller/sender or communication byaccessing the configuration data store 144, 944 or by accessing one ormore local or remote data stores or computer systems (includingmessaging systems) that store or are able to access and provide identityand characteristics information regarding the caller or thecommunication. For example, the call recipient phone 920 or therecipient computer system 120, 520 may access local storage to determinethat the caller/sender is in the address book of the recipient and isdesignated as a coworker in that address book. Additionally oralternatively, the call recipient phone 920 or the recipient computersystem 120, 520 may access an instant messaging system to determine thatthe recipient is online and available to receive instant messages.

[0127] Identity and characteristic sounds may be accessed based on thedetermined identity and characteristics (1630). The identity andcharacteristic sounds are specified by the recipient and may be storedin the audio identifier data store 144, 944 or in a data storageincluded with or accessible to the recipient computer system 120, 520,the call recipient phone 920, the digital communication processor 142,or the telephone network 930. The accessed sounds are concatenatedtogether with the source audio identifier to form a concatenated audiomessage with recipient-specified sounds (1640). For example, the callrecipient phone 920 or the recipient computer system 120, 520 may accessa characteristic sound corresponding to one second of a somber funeralmarch to indicate that the sender/caller is a coworker and may access asecond characteristic sound corresponding to a high-pitched bell soundthat indicates that the sender/caller is online and available to receiveinstant messages. Referring to FIG. 15B, if the source audio identifiercorresponds to the sound of a rooster, the concatenated audio message1520 corresponds to one second of a somber funeral march followed by thesound of a rooster which is, in turn, followed by a high-pitched bellsound.

[0128] Operations 1620-1640 may occur, for example, after operation 228and before operation 230 of process 200; after operation 518 and beforeoperation 520 of process 500; after operation 810 and before operation812 of process 800; after operation 1018 and before operation 1020 ofprocess 1000; or after operation 1116 and before operation 1120 ofprocess 1100.

[0129] Once the concatenated audio message with recipient-specifiedsounds is formed, the recipient is enabled to perceive the concatenatedaudio message (1650). Operation 1650 corresponds to operations 230-236of process 200, operation 520 of process 500, operation 812 of process800, operations 1020 and 1024-1028 of operation 1000, and operations1120 and 1122 of process 1100, wherein the source audio identifier isnow the concatenated audio message in the above operations.

[0130] Concatenated audio messages may be used in communications systemsthat do not use sender-specified sounds. In this implementation, therecipient computer system 120, 520, the call recipient phone 920, thetelephone network 930, or the digital communication processor 142receives or otherwise accesses a call or digital communication from asender rather than accessing a source audio identifier as specified byoperation 1610. Operations 1620-1650 are then performed to generate andenable perception of a concatenated audio message. The concatenatedaudio message, however, does not include a source audio identifier.

[0131] Concatenated audio messages also may be used to audibly inform auser of communication-related events that are not related to the receiptof a communication. For example, concatenated audio messages may be usedin an instant messaging context to audibly inform a user of presencestate changes of a member of the buddy list of the user (i.e., a“buddy”). For instance, the typical door opening/door closing sound thatis played to a user when a buddy signs on or off is an event identitysound and may be concatenated with an event characteristic soundindicating precisely which buddy is signing on or off or that a buddywithin a particular-buddy category or having a particular characteristicis signing on or off. Furthermore, another event characteristic soundindicating that the user is a member of the family or co-workerssubgroups of the buddy list of the user also may be concatenated to thedoor opening/door closing sound to further audibly classify the usersigning on or off.

[0132]FIG. 17 shows a concatenated audio message for an event 1700. Theconcatenated audio message for an event 1700 may include any combinationof event identity sounds 1710 and event characteristic sounds 1720. Theevent identity sounds 1710 identifies the specific event and aretypically unique to that event. The event characteristic sounds 1720further describe, qualify, and classify the event and are typicallyapplicable to multiple different events. The concatenated audio messagefor an event 1700 also may optionally include any combination of useridentity sounds 1730 and/or characteristic sounds (not shown).

[0133]FIG. 18 shows a process 1800 for creating and enabling perceptionof a concatenated audio message upon detection of the occurrence of anevent. Process 1800 may be performed by the recipient computer system120, 520 or by the call recipient phone 920. Additionally oralternatively, process 1800 may be performed by the digitalcommunication processor 142 or by the telephone network 930.

[0134] The occurrence of an event is detected (1810). The identity ofthe event and characteristics of the event are determined (1620). Theidentity of the event is typically tracked by the application thatgenerates the event and may be identified through interactions with thatapplication. Characteristics of that event also may be tracked by thatapplication and determined either through interactions with thatapplication or by accessing data storage devices or systemscommunicatively coupled to the recipient computer system 120, 520, thecall recipient phone 920, the digital communication processor 142, orthe telephone network 930.

[0135] The event identity and event characteristic sounds may beaccessed based on the determined identity and characteristics of theevent (1830). The event identity and event characteristic sounds may bestored in the audio identifier data store 144, 944 or in a data storageincluded with or accessible to the recipient computer system 120, 520,the call recipient phone 920, the digital communication processor 142,or the telephone network 930. The accessed sounds are concatenatedtogether to form a concatenated audio message (1840). Once theconcatenated audio message is formed, the user is enabled to perceivethe concatenated audio message (1650). The call recipient phone 920 orthe recipient computer system 120, 520 typically plays the concatenatedaudio message upon occurrence of the event and, thereby, enables theuser to hear the concatenated audio message and identify the event andits characteristics.

[0136] In a more general implementation, concatenated audio messages maybe used in any applications, not just communication-relatedapplications, which inform users of the occurrence of events wherein theevents may be described as belonging to multiple associated, nested, orhierarchical classes. The concatenated audio message may include anevent identity sound that identifies the event and one or more eventcharacteristic sounds that indicate the classes and subclasses in whichthe event is categorized.

[0137] A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, itwill be understood that various modifications may be made. For example,the source audio identifier may be a video identifier, rather than anaudio identifier, and may be perceived by the recipient each time adigital communication or call is received from the sender. Additionallyor alternatively, the sender identifier may be an audiovisualpresentation or any other non-textual form of identifier that may beperceived by the recipient as an indicator of the identity of thesender. The source audio identifier may be larger than 2 megabits insize or smaller than 120 kilobits in size. The source audio identifier,when converted to audio, may produce more than 2 seconds of sound orless than one second of sound.

[0138] The following is a list of additional implementations. One or acombination of the following implementations may be used to add variousfunctions or features.

[0139] In a first implementation, the digital communication processor142, the telephone network 930, the sender computer system 110, 520, orthe caller phone 910 may communicate with the recipient computer systemto determine whether the recipient computer system 120, 520 has alreadystored the source audio identifier prior to sending a source audioidentifier. If the recipient computer system 120, 520 has already storeda source audio identifier for the sender, no source audio identifier maybe sent by the digital communication processor 142, by the telephonenetwork 930, by the sender computer system 110, 510, or by the callerphone 910.

[0140] In a second implementation, the default response algorithm ofFIG. 3A and FIG. 6 and may include an option to store the digitalcommunication for later retrieval. If this option is selected, thedigital communication is stored in a data store corresponding to therecipient (e.g., an e-mail inbox) and may be accessed by the recipientat a later date. The user interface 300 of FIG. 3B also may include anoption button and a check box that may be selected to store the currentdigital communication and all future digital communications from thatsender, respectively, for later retrieval.

[0141] In a third implementation, the digital communication processor142 may not send the complete digital communication to the recipientcomputer system 120, upon receipt of that digital communication from thesender computer system 110. Instead, the digital communication processor142 may store the digital communication and send a portion of thedigital communication to the recipient computer system 120 with orwithout the source audio identifier. The recipient may perceive thesource audio identifier upon receiving the portion of the digitalcommunication from the digital communication processor 142. Therecipient perceives the portion of the digital communication anddetermines whether he or she wants to perceive the complete digitalcommunication based on the perceived portion. The recipient may thenchoose to perceive the complete digital communication, and the recipientcomputer system 120 enables the recipient to access the complete digitalcommunication from the appropriate data store. For example, in an e-mailoriented context, the digital communication processor 142 may receive ane-mail addressed to the recipient, may store the e-mail in the inboxcorresponding to the recipient, and may send header information (e.g.,sender e-mail address, time and date sent, subject of e-mail, andrecipients of e-mail) and, if applicable, the source audio identifier tothe recipient computer system 120. The recipient computer system 120 mayplay the source audio identifier upon receipt of the header informationand may include all or some of the header information of the receivede-mail in the inbox list displayed to the recipient. The recipient maythen select the header information for that e-mail and the recipientcomputer system 120 then enables the recipient to access and perceivethe complete e-mail stored in the inbox of the recipient.

[0142] In a fourth implementation, if the received digital communicationis an e-mail, the concatenated audio message may include an identity orcharacteristic sound that corresponds to the “true source” of an e-mailthat has been forwarded, or that corresponds to the identities listed inthe “cc” or “bcc” fields of the e-mail header. The identity orcharacteristic sound may be an alternative to or an addition to anidentity sound corresponding to the identity listed in the “from” fieldof the e-mail header (i.e., the direct source of the e-mail).Additionally, the digital communication processor 142 or the recipientcomputer system 120 may automatically bypass the concatenated audiomessage in situations where the recipient is merely listed in the “cc”or “bcc” fields of the e-mail header. The volume of the identity orcharacteristic sounds also may be varied to signify different levels ofimportance of the recipient or e-mail. For example, if the recipient islisted in the “to” field of the e-mail address header, the volume may beset to the highest level while if the recipient is listed in the “bcc”field, the volume may be set to the lowest level. If the e-mail isdesignated as “urgent” by the sender, the volume also may be set to itshighest level.

[0143] In a fifth implementation, the DCHS 140 or telephone network 930may track the source audio identifiers that have been sent to and storedby the recipient computer system 120 or by the call recipient phone 920.If the DCHS 140 or telephone network 930 determines that the sourceaudio identifier has already been locally stored by the recipientcomputer system 120 or by the call recipient phone 920, the DCHS 140 orthe telephone network 920 may not send the source audio identifier tothe recipient computer system 120 or to the call recipient phone 920.The recipient computer system 120 or the call recipient phone 920 mayaccess and play the source audio identifier based on the sender useridentifier of the incoming call or received digital communication.

[0144] In a sixth implementation, the digital communication processor142, the telephone network 930, the sender computer system 110, 510, orthe caller phone 910 may send to the recipient computer system 120, 520or to the call recipient phone 920 a link to the source audio identifierrather than sending the source audio identifier itself. The recipientcomputer system 120, 520 or the call recipient phone 920 may use thelink to access the source audio identifier. The link may be, forexample, a Universal Resource Locator (URL) that specifies a web sitestorage location where the source audio identifier is stored.

[0145] In a seventh implementation, the digital communication processor142 may determine whether the sender has an associated source audioidentifier upon receipt of a digital communication prior to accessing orapplying recipient communication exchange preferences. If the sender orcaller has an associated source audio identifier, the digitalcommunication processor 142 may proceed as in operations 206-238 ofprocess 200. If no source audio identifier is associated with thesender, the digital communication processor 142 may handle the digitalcommunication or call in the same manner as an ordinary digitalcommunication is handled. The digital communication processor 142 mayaccess the audio identifier data store 144 based on the sender useridentifier to initially determine whether the sender has an associatedsource audio identifier. If no source audio identifier corresponding tothe sender user identifier is stored in the audio identifier data store144, then the sender is deemed to not have an associated source audioidentifier.

[0146] In an eighth implementation, the digital communication processor142 or the recipient computer system 120 may always query the recipientregarding how to deal with a heretofore unknown source audio identifier.The recipient may select from among various audio identifier controloptions like the ones described with respect to FIG. 3B to determine howto handle the received message with source audio identifier and how tohandle future messages with source audio identifiers received from thesame source.

[0147] In a ninth implementation, the user communication exchangepreferences may be stored and consulted/invoked locally or remote to thesender computer system 120 or to an intermediary computer system (e.g.,the digital communication processor 142) in each of the processes andsystems described with respect to FIGS. 2, 3A, 4, 5, and 6.

[0148] In a tenth implementation, the user interface 300 may includeadditional control options that provide a recipient with greater controlover audio identifiers. For example, the user interface 300 may includean option that enables the source audio identifier to be presented uponreceipt of a first digital communication from the source in acommunication session between the source and the recipient and enables asecond audio identifier to be presented upon receipt of each of theother digital communications received from the source during thatcommunication session. The second audio identifier is different than thefirst audio identifier and may be designated by the recipient or by thesender. Alternatively, the second audio identifier may be a genericaudio identifier not designated by either the recipient or by thesender. The user interface 300 also may include an option that enablesthe second audio identifier to be presented upon receipt of a firstdigital communication in the communication session and enables thesource audio identifier to be presented upon receipt of each of theother digital communications received from the source during thatcommunication session. The user interface 300 also may include an optionthat the source audio identifier or the second audio identifier ispresented upon receipt of a first digital communication in thecommunication session and no audio identifier is presented upon receiptof each of the other digital communications received from the sourceduring that communication session.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for enabling a recipient to controlpresentation of an audio identifier informing the recipient of anarrival of a digital communication from a sender in a communicationsession, the method comprising: receiving a digital communication from asender directed to a recipient; accessing a sender-designated firstaudio identifier or sender-related information that identifies thesender to the recipient upon arrival of the digital communication fromthe sender to the recipient; presenting the first audio identifier orsender-related information to the recipient contemporaneous with receiptof the digital communication; and enabling the recipient to specify,upon presentation of the first audio identifier or sender-relatedinformation, whether to enable subsequent presentation of the firstaudio identifier prior to or concurrent with receipt of a future digitalcommunication from the sender.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising enabling the recipient to specify that a second audioidentifier that differs from the first audio identifier be presentedprior to or concurrent with receipt of each future digital communicationfrom the sender.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the second audioidentifier is designated by the sender.
 4. The method of claim 2,wherein the second audio identifier is designated by the recipient. 5.The method of claim 2, wherein the second audio identifier is presentedinstead of the first audio identifier.
 6. The method of claim 2, whereinthe second audio identifier is presented in addition to the first audioidentifier.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein enabling the recipient tospecify whether to enable presentation of the first audio identifierincludes enabling the recipient to specify upon receipt of a firstdigital communication from the sender in a communication session betweenthe recipient and the sender.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein enablingthe recipient to specify whether to enable presentation of the firstaudio identifier includes enabling the recipient to specify each time adigital communication is received from the sender.
 9. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising enabling the recipient to specify how thefirst audio identifier will be presented upon receipt of each futuredigital communication from the sender.
 10. The method of claim 9,wherein the recipient is made able to specify how the first audioidentifier will be presented upon receipt of each future digitalcommunication from the sender in the communication session between therecipient and the sender.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingenabling the recipient to once again specify whether to enablepresentation of the first audio identifier conditioned on whether thefirst audio identifier is changed by the sender.
 12. The method of claim1, further comprising enabling the recipient to once again specifywhether to enable presentation of the first audio identifierirrespective of receipt of future digital communications from thesender.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first audio identifier isassociated with the digital communication.
 14. The method of claim 1,wherein presenting the first audio identifier or sender-relatedinformation comprises presenting the first audio identifier orsender-related information in response to receipt of the digitalcommunication.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing the firstaudio identifier comprises receiving the first audio identifier with thedigital communication.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein accessing thefirst audio identifier comprises receiving a pointer to a data storestoring the first audio identifier and accessing the data store usingthe pointer to retrieve the first audio identifier.
 17. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the pointer is a Universal Resource Locator.
 18. Amethod for controlling the presentation of an audio identifier informinga recipient of an arrival of a digital communication from a sender in acommunication session, the method comprising: receiving a digitalcommunication from a sender directed to a recipient, the digitalcommunication being associated with a first audio identifier; uponreceipt of the digital communication by the recipient, accessing asender-designated first audio identifier or sender-related informationthat identifies the sender to the recipient; and enabling the recipientto control presentation of the first audio identifier prior to orconcurrent with presentation of the digital communication to therecipient.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising enabling therecipient to specify that a second audio identifier that differs fromthe first audio identifier be presented prior to or concurrent withreceipt of each future digital communication from the sender.
 20. Themethod of claim 19, wherein the second audio identifier is designated bythe sender.
 21. The method of claim 19, wherein the second audioidentifier is designated by the recipient.
 22. The method of claim 19,wherein the second audio identifier is presented instead of the firstaudio identifier.
 23. The method of claim 19, wherein the second audioidentifier is presented in addition to the first audio identifier. 24.The method of claim 18, wherein enabling the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier includes enabling therecipient to specify whether to enable presentation of the first audioidentifier upon receipt of a first digital communication from the senderin a communication session between the recipient and the sender.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein enabling the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier includes enabling therecipient to specify whether to enable presentation of the first audioidentifier each time a digital communication is received from thesender.
 26. The method of claim 24, further comprising enabling therecipient to specify how the first audio identifier will be presentedupon receipt of each future digital communication from the sender. 27.The method of claim 26, wherein the recipient is made able to specifyhow the first audio identifier will be presented upon receipt of eachfuture digital communication from the sender in the communicationsession between the recipient and the sender.
 28. The method of claim18, further comprising enabling the recipient to specify thatpresentation of the first audio identifier will be conditioned onwhether the first audio identifier is changed by the sender.
 29. Themethod of claim 18, further comprising enabling the recipient to specifythat presentation of the first audio identifier will occur irrespectiveof receipt of future digital communications from the sender.
 30. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the first audio identifier is associatedwith the digital communication.
 31. The method of claim 18, whereinenabling the recipient to control presentation of the first audioidentifier includes presenting the first audio identifier orsender-related information in response to receipt of the digitalcommunication.
 32. The method of claim 18, wherein accessing the firstaudio identifier comprises receiving the first audio identifier with thedigital communication.
 33. The method of claim 18, wherein accessing thefirst audio identifier comprises receiving a pointer to a data storestoring the first audio identifier and accessing the data store usingthe pointer to retrieve the first audio identifier.
 34. The method ofclaim 33, wherein the pointer is a Universal Resource Locator.
 35. Themethod of claim 18, wherein enabling the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier includes enabling therecipient to choose that no audio identifier be presented.
 36. Themethod of claim 18, wherein enabling the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier includes enabling therecipient to choose to perceive at least a portion of the first audioidentifier prior to enabling the recipient to choose whether the firstaudio identifier will be presented.
 37. The method of claim 18, furtherincluding enabling the recipient to control disposition of the digitalcommunication.
 38. The method of claim 37, wherein enabling therecipient to control presentation of the first audio identifier andenabling the recipient to control disposition of the digitalcommunication comprises enabling the recipient to select from among oneor more options to react to the received digital communication.
 39. Themethod of claim 38, wherein the options are presented to the recipientin a user interface upon receipt of the digital communication.
 40. Themethod of claim 38, wherein the options include an option selectable toperceive the digital communication and the first audio identifier. 41.The method of claim 38, wherein the options include an option selectableto perceive the digital communication and perceive a second audioidentifier.
 42. The method of claim 41, wherein the second audioidentifier is different than the first audio identifier and isdesignated by the sender.
 43. The method of claim 41, wherein the secondaudio identifier is different than the first audio identifier and isdesignated by the recipient.
 44. The method of claim 38, wherein theoptions include an option selectable to not perceive any audioidentifier.
 45. The method of claim 38, wherein the options include anoption selectable to not perceive the digital communication.
 46. Themethod of claim 18, wherein the digital communication is an instantmessage.
 47. The method of claim 18, wherein the digital communicationis an e-mail.
 48. The method of claim 18, wherein the digitalcommunication is a voice mail.
 49. The method of claim 18, wherein theaudio identifier is a spoken version of a user identifier of the sender.50. The method of claim 18, wherein the sender comprises a caller andthe digital communication comprises a phone call and wherein: receivinga digital communication comprises receiving the phone call directed tothe recipient; and enabling the recipient to control presentation of thefirst audio identifier comprises enabling the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier in addition to or as areplacement of a ring tone for the phone call.
 51. A computer system forcontrolling the presentation of an audio identifier informing arecipient of an arrival of a digital communication from a sender in acommunication session, the computer system comprising: a data storeconfigured to store a sender-designated first audio identifier; adigital communication processor configured to: receive a digitalcommunication from the sender directed to a recipient, upon receipt ofthe digital communication by the recipient, access the first audioidentifier from the data store; and enable the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier prior to or concurrent withpresentation of the digital communication to the recipient.
 52. Thecomputer system of claim 51, wherein the digital communication processoris further configured to enable the recipient to specify that a secondaudio identifier that differs from the first audio identifier bepresented prior to or concurrent with receipt of each future digitalcommunication from the sender.
 53. The computer system of claim 52,wherein the second audio identifier is designated by the sender.
 54. Thecomputer system of claim 52, wherein the second audio identifier isdesignated by the recipient.
 55. The computer system of claim 52,wherein the second audio identifier is presented instead of the firstaudio identifier.
 56. The computer system of claim 52, wherein thesecond audio identifier is presented in addition to the first audioidentifier.
 57. The computer system of claim 51, wherein the digitalcommunication processor is configured to enable the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier by enabling the recipient tospecify whether to enable presentation of the first audio identifierupon receipt of a first digital communication from the sender in acommunication session between the recipient and the sender.
 58. Thecomputer system of claim 57, wherein the digital communication processoris configured to enable the recipient to control presentation of thefirst audio identifier by enabling the recipient to specify whether toenable presentation of the first audio identifier each time a digitalcommunication is received from the sender.
 59. The computer system ofclaim 57, wherein the digital communication processor is furtherconfigured to enable the recipient to specify how the first audioidentifier will be presented upon receipt of each future digitalcommunication from the sender.
 60. The computer system of claim 59,wherein the digital communication processor is configured to enable therecipient to specify how the first audio identifier will be presentedupon receipt of each future digital communication from the sender in thecommunication session between the recipient and the sender.
 61. Thecomputer system of claim 51, wherein the digital communication processoris further configured to enable the recipient to specify whether toenable presentation of the first audio identifier conditioned on whetherthe first audio identifier is changed by the sender.
 62. The computersystem of claim 51, wherein the digital communication processor isfurther configured to enable the recipient to specify whether to enablepresentation of the first audio identifier irrespective of receipt offuture digital communications from the sender.
 63. The computer systemof claim 51, wherein the first audio identifier is associated with thedigital communication.
 64. The computer system of claim 51, wherein thedigital communication processor is configured to enable the recipient tocontrol presentation of the first audio identifier by presenting thefirst audio identifier or sender-related information in response toreceipt of the digital communication.
 65. The computer system of claim51, wherein the digital communication is configured to access the firstaudio identifier by receiving the first audio identifier with thedigital communication.
 66. The computer system of claim 51, wherein thedigital communication processor is configured to access the first audioidentifier by receiving a pointer to a data store storing the firstaudio identifier and accessing the data store using the pointer toretrieve the first audio identifier.
 67. The computer system of claim66, wherein the pointer is a Universal Resource Locator.
 68. Thecomputer system of claim 51, wherein the digital communication processoris configured to enable the recipient to control presentation of thefirst audio identifier by enabling the recipient to choose that no audioidentifier be presented.
 69. The computer system of claim 51, whereinthe digital communication processor is configured to enable therecipient to control presentation of the first audio identifier byenabling the recipient to choose to perceive at least a portion of thefirst audio identifier prior to enabling the recipient to choose whetherthe first audio identifier will be presented.
 70. The computer system ofclaim 51, wherein the digital communication processor is furtherconfigured to enable the recipient to control disposition of the digitalcommunication.
 71. The computer system of claim 70, wherein the digitalcommunication processor is further configured to enable the recipient tocontrol presentation of the first audio identifier and presentation ofthe digital communication by enabling the recipient to select from amongone or more options to react to the received digital communication. 72.The computer system of claim 71, wherein the options are presented tothe recipient in a user interface upon receipt of the digitalcommunication.
 73. The computer system of claim 71, wherein the optionsinclude an option selectable to perceive the digital communication andthe first audio identifier.
 74. The computer system of claim 71, whereinthe options include an option selectable to perceive the digitalcommunication and perceive a second audio identifier.
 75. The computersystem of claim 74, wherein the second audio identifier is differentthan the first audio identifier and is designated by the sender.
 76. Thecomputer system of claim 74, wherein the second audio identifier isdifferent than the first audio identifier and is designated by therecipient.
 77. The computer system of claim 71, wherein the optionsinclude an option selectable to not perceive any audio identifier. 78.The computer system of claim 71, wherein the options include an optionselectable to not perceive the digital communication.
 79. The computersystem of claim 51, wherein the digital communication is an instantmessage.
 80. The computer system of claim 51, wherein the digitalcommunication is an e-mail.
 81. The computer system of claim 51, whereinthe digital communication is a voice mail.
 82. The computer system ofclaim 51, wherein the audio identifier is a spoken version of a useridentifier of the sender.
 83. The computer system of claim 51, whereinthe sender comprises a caller and the digital communication comprises aphone call and wherein: the digital communication processor isconfigured to: receive a digital communication by receiving the phonecall directed to the recipient; and enable the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier by enabling the recipient tocontrol presentation of the first audio identifier in addition to or asa replacement of a ring tone for the phone call.
 84. An apparatus forcontrolling the presentation of an audio identifier informing arecipient of an arrival of a digital communication from a sender in acommunication session, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving adigital communication from a sender directed to a recipient, the digitalcommunication being associated with a first audio identifier; means foraccessing a sender-designated first audio identifier or sender-relatedinformation that identifies the sender to recipient upon arrival of thedigital communication from the sender to the recipient; and means forenabling the recipient to control presentation of the first audioidentifier prior to or concurrent with presentation of the digitalcommunication to the recipient.
 85. A user interface for enabling arecipient of a digital communication from a sender to control thepresentation of a first audio identifier informing the recipient ofreceipt of the digital communication, the user interface comprising: afirst interface element structured and arranged to provide notificationof a digital communication that has been received; a second interfaceelement structured and arranged to enable notification of a first audioidentifier that identifies the sender of the digital communication andthat is designated by the sender of the digital communication; and athird interface element structured and arranged to enable the recipientof the digital communication to control presentation of the first audioidentifier prior to or concurrent with presentation of the digitalcommunication to the recipient.
 86. The user interface of claim 85,wherein the first interface element displays sender profile information.87. The user interface of claim 85, wherein the third interface isstructured and arranged to enable the recipient to control presentationof the first audio identifier by enabling the recipient to choose thatthe first audio identifier be presented prior to or concurrent withreceipt of the digital communication when the digital communication isthe first digital communication received from the sender in thecommunication session between the sender and the recipient.
 88. The userinterface of claim 85, wherein the third interface element is furtherstructured and arranged to enable the recipient to control dispositionof the digital communication.
 89. The user interface of claim 88,wherein the third interface element is structured and arranged to enablethe recipient to control presentation of the first audio identifier andenable the recipient to control disposition of the digital communicationby enabling the recipient to select from among one or more options toreact to the received digital communication.
 90. The user interface ofclaim 89, wherein the options include an option selectable to perceivethe digital communication and the first audio identifier.
 91. The userinterface of claim 89, wherein the options include an option selectableto perceive the digital communication and perceive a second audioidentifier.
 92. The user interface of claim 91, wherein the second audioidentifier is different than the first audio identifier and isdesignated by the sender.
 93. The user interface of claim 91, whereinthe second audio identifier is different than the first audio identifierand is designated by the recipient.
 94. The user interface of claim 89,wherein the options include an option selectable to not perceive anyaudio identifier.
 95. The user interface of claim 89, wherein theoptions include an option selectable to not perceive the digitalcommunication.
 96. The user interface of claim 85, wherein the digitalcommunication is an instant message.
 97. The user interface of claim 85,wherein the digital communication is an e-mail.
 98. The user interfaceof claim 85, wherein the digital communication is a voice mail.
 99. Theuser interface of claim 85, wherein the audio identifier is a spokenversion of a user identifier of the sender.
 100. The user interface ofclaim 85, wherein the sender comprises a caller and the digitalcommunication comprises a phone call. and wherein: the first interfaceelement is structured and arranged to provide notification of the phonecall directed to the recipient; and the third interface element isstructured and arranged to enable the recipient to control presentationof the first audio identifier by enabling the recipient to controlpresentation of the first audio identifier as a ring tone for the phonecall.